Machines have been developed for picking the feathers of poultry for use in poultry processing plants. These prior art picking machines typically have drums and/or discs to which resilient picker fingers are mounted. The drums are rotatably driven about their longitudinal axes and are positioned along each side of a path of travel along which birds are conveyed while suspended from shackles of an overhead conveyor line. In the picking machines which utilize discs, the flexible fingers extend from one surface of each disc toward the path of travel of the birds and the discs are rotated about their center axes causing each of the fingers to orbit circularly and rub against the birds, thereby defeathering them. Since the resilient fingers are constantly being driven in contact with the birds, the fingers tend to wear readily, thereby necessitating frequent replacement.
The picker fingers typically have an enlarged disc-shaped base formed with an annular recess from which base a tapered, furrowed shank extends. The annular recess of the finger base is located within a hole in the support disc or drum (hereinafter referred to as "disc") with the recess lips abutting and therefore gripping opposite sides of the rim about the hole of the support disc. To remove a worn finger from the disc the finger is severed at its recess adjacent one side of the support disc whereupon the shank falls free and its base can be pushed on through the hole in the disc and falls from the other side of the disc. A new finger then can be installed by passing its shank portion from behind the disc through the enlarged hole in the disc until its tapered surface adjacent its enlarged base engages the rim about the hole. By then pulling the shank with a substantial degree of force the base itself may then be pulled into the hole until its annular recess becomes seated in the rim of the hole.
The just described picking finger installation procedure has proven to be inefficient. It is inherently difficult to seat the picking fingers within the disc holes manually due to the amount of force required in pulling their base portion into the support holes. Not only is a substantial amount of strength required but the space available in which to work is usually quite restricted making it awkward to apply manual leverage. All of this has made finger replacement difficult, tedious, time-consuming and expensive. It is to the alleviation of this problem that the present invention is therefore primarily directed.